Visitors attend the Shanghai Book Fair. The Shanghai Exhibition Center was the main venue for this year's annual event.[Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

Smaller, more specialized brick-and-mortar outlets are helping to boost sales for China's bookselling industry, Zhang Kun reports.

The flagship store of Duoyun Books was arguably the most popular among the bevy of supporting venues of the recently concluded Aug 14-20 Shanghai Book Fair, drawing hordes of visitors, many of whom waited for hours outside the store.

Located on the 52nd story of Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in the country, the bookstore was one of more than 100 locations in the city that held special events related to the annual fair, such as book signings, workshops and talks by authors. Five lectures and book readings were held at Duoyun Books during the fair. The bookstore only recently opened on Aug 12.